This site, /Athens/3116/, was "staked out" 7 February 1996,
and the first page file was uploaded to this site
at 3:35pm AST on 8 February 1996.

At that time, GeoCities had about 28,000 homesteaders.
On 18 March 1998, GeoCities had 1,700,000 homesteaders.

As of April 1998, this website
was among the oldest 2% of GeoCities homesteads.

This site has been operated continuously, from 1996, by the same webmaster
and hosted continuously by the same company. The original 1996 URL washttp://www.geocities.com/Athens/3116/index.html.
In 1999, when Yahoo Incorporated bought GeoCities, it becamehttp://geocities.yahoo.com/Athens/3116/index.html
In July 2002, the URL was changed to/index.html.

This seething, bubbling maelstrom we call the Web:
New pages are added. Old pages are moved to new URLs.
New content is added to old pages.New sites spring up while others disappear.— Greg Notess, Reference Librarian, Montana State University
http://www.onlinemag.net/OL2001/net11_01.html

Nova Scotia stuff

Timeline of the Seven Years War 1754-1763 The period 2004-2013 is the 250th anniversary of the
Seven Years War, a.k.a. the French and Indian War.
Includes important events in Nova Scotia./remem/7yw-timeline.html

A Fierce War: The Electric Telegraph Lines Between New York and Halifax...The vexations endured by the Associated Press management in the early days (1849-1850) were aggravated by dissentions which grew up between the managers of some of the Morse telegraph lines and the press. There were also contentions between the members of the press in Boston and other places, fanned if not engendered by the jealousies of some of the Morse lines, and especially by those under the control of F.O.J. Smith. This gentleman refused to have steamers' news come over his line from Halifax, for the Associated Press, unless they dismissed Mr. Craig, then acting as their Halifax agent. This led to a rupture, by which the press of Boston became divided. The Association retained Mr. Craig, and ran a special locomotive express at an enormous expense with each steamer's news, from Portland to Boston, there being no telegraph between these two points except that owned by Smith. From Boston it came over by the Bain line to New York. The Association also, by its encouragement, caused a company to extend the Bain line from Boston to Portland, where it connected with the lines extending thence to Halifax, and which were beyond the control of Smith. The war was a very fierce one; many phamphlets appeared on both sides, including
one by Mr. Craig in his defence against Smith's charges. The latter left no stone unturned. Among other efforts to thwart the Association, it is said that he endeavored to get control of one of the links on the Halifax line east of Portland. He also appealed to the Provincial Legislature of New Brunswick, and protested against the management of the Halifax line by its superintendent; but all without avail. His success in putting the newspaper press by the ears was not only less difficult, but more complete. At one time Smith refused to receive and transmit private messages handed in by merchants and others for Halifax, or to let anything come over his line from Halifax...
[
Page 140,
Historical Sketch of the Electric Telegraph, by Alexander Jones, 1852, published by George E. Putnam, New York.]
(Alexander Jones was the first General Manager of the Associated Press in New York.)

Tides at Burntcoat Head, Hants County, Nova Scotia.The world's highest tides occur in the Bay of Fundy, between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and the highest tides in the Bay of Fundy occur at Burntcoat Head.

Railway Photographs

Photographs by G. Wayne Hines, Kentville.
Laying new track in the Annapolis Valley December 1996

The Dominion Atlantic Railway, which operated in the Annapolis Valley for nearly 100 years, was abandoned on 29 August 1994. That same day, the Windsor & Hantsport Railway, a new short line company, bought all the remaining track, and began operations.
In December 1996, the W&HR built a new siding at New Minas. Here are five photographs taken during the construction of that new siding, which has a capacity of eight cars. The first train to use this siding arrived on 26 December 1996, when the daily freight westbound from Windsor Junction stopped here to run the engines around the train for the trip back to Windsor. This was the first train to operate along this section of the main line since 16 September 1993, when the Last Train From Kentville passed here eastbound. Until January 1990, there was daily passenger service along this main line, between Yarmouth and Halifax.

Photograph #1 At the east switch of the new siding, looking eastward along the main line toward Wolfville and Windsor.

Photograph #2 Construction equipment, backhoe and tamper. The main line is in the foreground.

Photograph #3 At the west switch of the new siding, looking eastward along the main line toward Wolfville and Windsor.

Photograph #4 At the east switch of the new siding, looking westward along the main line toward Kentville. The track gang has just finished work for the day. We see piles of crushed stone, ready to be spread as ballast for the siding. Some crushed stone has been spread over the switch ties. In the distance we can see the highway overpass, which carries Middle Dyke Road over the W&HR main line and the Cornwallis River. As of November 1996 - March 1997, the end of track is about 1000 feet beyond this overpass.

Photograph #5 The tamper stands on the new siding at New Minas; on the main line is the weed cutting machine rented from CP for four weeks. The weed cutter has hydraulically-powered arms that can reach as far as 30 feet on either side of the track, to cut brush and small trees with rotating cutting blades — much like a lawn mower on steroids. Crushed rock ballast has been dumped on the new track. The next step is for the workers to use track jacks to lift and level the new track; then, to complete the job, the tamper will force crushed rock under the ties to make the track permanently level. After this, the track will be finished and ready for use.